A family trip full of treasured memories

Greece | Apr 27 - May 7, 2022

Wow - what meals we had here! We were only here for a late dinner (they gave us a lot of extra dishes to try, and they were fabulous), and breakfast. The breakfast was amazing -- they had such a variety, even of teas and coffees and desserts. The lobbies were cool -- actual Olympic torches (the family has a connection), and the pool area was beautiful, though we didn't have time to enjoy it. The rooms were spacious, if a little dated, and the staff was very nice. We purchased some olive oil to take home, too!

We thought the Noma was ideally situated for our three days in Athens. The staff was friendly and responsive. We had three rooms reserved because of the size of our party, and each was different, but they all worked. We enjoyed the tiny balcony on the second floor. The elevator was nice, and there was a little lobby. Our bath towels were the size of hand towels, even after exchanging them (but another couple in our party had normal-sized towels). One of the rooms had a bathroom that was not exactly private from the rest of the room. We would have probably rather have gotten breakfast on our own -- what was offered was pretty plain and monotonous -- a croissant, eggs, and coffee -- no fruit, no pastries. The rooms were comfortable and stocked (for a fee). The best part about it was being able to step out right into the heart of Athens.

Charming rooms, nice breakfast, excellent location -- a good place to stay in a very nice town!

What a beautiful place. The rooms were luxurious and the patios were exquisite! The view was amazing. I wish the one day we had marked as a "leisure" day would have been nice enough for us to have enjoyed the pool and maybe taken a hike in the fields, if that was allowed. (It rained all day.) The breakfasts were delightful -- we loved having such a wide selection and the dishes were refilled often. The location was convenient (since we had a car), and we were happy to stay a bit outside of town. We had two rooms (one for two people and one for three). I would have liked to have had a microwave or coffee maker in our room (for two). The staff was excellent -- there had been a small mix-up with the reservation, but it was quickly corrected and everyone was very solicitous.

Two of three rooms were facing the water, so that was nice. We weren't there for very long (it was our night-before-the-airport hotel), but it was very nice. The breakfast was wonderful - a lot of variety. I wonder if the Greek people eat so many desserts for breakfast or if they just think that Americans and other travelers do! Ha ha! Still, it was a breakfast full of a huge variety and we enjoyed it very much. The best part was the location and not having to stay at the airport!

Our guide was different from the one originally scheduled, but she was fabulous and we are so happy she joined us for our late afternoon tour. She brought Olympia alive with knowledge and passion. She "crowned" our son after he beat my daughter running on the stadia. What an amazing experience! She shared her own archeological experiences with us as she filled in the years. She taught us about the meanings of the statues. I really couldn't compliment her enough -- this experience was our favorite of all of the days and tours.

While it was crowded and it was a windy, but sunny day, the experience of the Acropolis can't be beat. Our guide was extremely helpful in leading us around and providing the context for the experience. The viewers were very cool, and we loved that our guide showed us all over the museum, showing us the connections between the Acropolis and the museum, and teaching us about the history and the meanings behind the statues.

My recommendations are the following: ** Change the pin in the Wanderlog app for the Delphi location. It took us to the town rather than to the site by the museum where we needed to meet the guide. We were therefore about twenty minutes late, and the guide had to leave us earlier than we would have liked (I think he had another tour). Delphi ended up being our shortest tour as a result. ** Make sure the drivers know where to drop the car off at the airport -- with a pin maybe on the app. This part caused a lot of stress and driving around, being unsure where to go. The person who dropped the car off to us was not clear, and it wasn't precise in the app. ** Make sure the driver knows what kind of gas to get! There are a lot of choices and we weren't really sure. Luckily, the service station people knew what to use !

Because one member of our party works in the wine industry, we were really looking forward to a tour so that he could compare the sites. We really only got to see the cellars and the showroom. We asked some questions, but the guide didn't go too far off-script. The tasting was okay -- we were given two whites and two reds. None of them knocked my socks off, so to speak. The lunch was fabulous and gave us a great taste (ha ha) of some Greek food we hadn't tried yet. The venue was very pretty.

While the information was interesting and we thought a lot of the guide, we concluded that we prefer more historic tours. I don't think we realized that this "hike" was actually more of a walk through the town. We had, on the rainy day, already walked through much of the town, and we had driven up to see the coast the day before. I can appreciate the intent of the hike, but it just wasn't for us.